Baku to host World Judo Championship 2018
By Laman Ismayilova
The World Judo Championships 2018 among adults will be held in Baku for the first time.
The decision was made at a meeting of the International Judo Federation Executive Committee in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Azertac reported
The International Judo Federation (IJF) President Marius Vizer stressed that it has a wonderful tradition of organizing international events in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
He expressed confidence that the tournament will be organized excellently in Baku.
“Baku has great experiences in terms of hosting huge sports events. The first European Games was held excellently and the Grand Slam tournaments were also successfully held in Baku in recent years,” he added.
The 2019 World Judo Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo, Japan.
The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Olympic judo competition. The first edition of the world championships took place in Tokyo, Japan in 1956.
The championships are held once every year, except the years when the Olympics take place.
An Olympic sport, Judo is quite popular in Azerbaijan among both men and women.
Azerbaijan Judo Federation was established in 1972.
Since 1993, Azerbaijani fighters were among the winners at Junior European Judo Championships. In 2000, national team won five medals and took the first place in the team standings at European Judo Championships held in Romania.
A few glorious pages in the history of the Azerbaijani judo was also written in 2002.
Elchin Ismayilov claimed the silver medal at European Judo Championships held in Slovenia.
Moreover, judo fighters won all the three medals of merit at European championship in Hungary.
The turning point in the history of Azerbaijan judo sport was Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Azerbaijan was presented by six judoists, among which was the silver medalist of the 2007 World Championship Elnur Mammadli (73 kg), who won the title of Olympic champion in Beijing.
Bronze medal was awarded and Movlud Miraliyev (100 kg), while national team took the third place in the men's team competition.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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